St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-28
The Failure of a Jail Employe
to Appear in Court De-
velops a Sensation.
Turnkeys Accused of Init
macy With an Insane Wo-
man in the Jail.
The State Board of Correc-
tionS and Charities Called
on to Investigate.
Where Are the Men Who Are
Charged With the Grave
OffenSe?

When Jailer Louis Peterson awoke
from deep sleep in the Jail building on
the night of Oct. Is, he arose and peeped
through the round holes in the iron door
which separates the prisoners depart
ment from the sheriff. and other county
offices, and, according to his statement
made to DR.. Dana, vice president of the
state board of corrections and charities,
he noticed something very suspicious.
He says he saw woman acting as if
she had been in place where
she should not have been, and getting
up stairs as fast as she could.
He says he took the night watchman,
Henry Shields, the turnkey, Henry
Kramer, and a deputy sheriff, Frank
Picha, to task about it and says they
begged him for heavens sake to say
nothing about it. He took the keys
away from MIR. Shields. Too soft
hearted, perhaps. for man in his po-
Sition, the Jailer kept the matter to him
self. and acting in accordance with the
entreaties of the three men he failed to
report the matter to the proper authOri-
ties.
On Oct. 20, Deputy Frank Picha took
the woman in the case to the Rochester
asylum. She had been arrested, and
she was locked in the jail on the 18th.
She had mania for stealing children,
and she had secured possession of a
child at the union depot: She was ad-
judged insane and committed to ROches-
ter by Probate Judge German. This
woman, Mary Zens, a rather young
woman, in fact, little mere than
a girl, let it leak out at
the Rochester asylum that there had
been some disorderly behavior in the
Ramsey county Jail Oh the night of Oct.
Is. She made the gravest charges
against the turnkey, the night watch
man and the deputy sheriff. She stated
that she had had criminal connection
with all three of these men. Such
serious statement could not escape the
ears of the superintendent of the Roch-
ester asylum, DIR. }. E. Bowers. He lost
no time in looking into the matter, and
on the strength of the young demented
woman'S assertions, he penned state
ment and mailed it to II. III. Hart. sec
and charities, at st. Paul. The girls
statement was that ''the two Henrys
and Frank" had been Improperly init
mate with her.
Secretary Hart notified DR.. Dana, the
vice president of the board. and Mar
shal Campbell. another member of the
board. The attorney general, Mr.. Clamp.
was consulted with and the
GOVERNOR WAS NOTIFIED.
and Dr.. Dana and Secretary Hart at
once commenced an informal investiga-
ton.
On Tuesday DR.. Dana and Mr.. Hart
visited the county jail. They made
known their mission to Sheriff Richter.
The jailer, Mr.. Peterson, Watchman
Shields and Turnkey Kramer were pro-
duced. Mr.. Peterson is said to have
made a clean breast of the whole affair,
have denied it. DR.. Dana looked
up into the sheriff's eyes. and said.
.'These men tell lies.'' The taller.
Mr.. Peterson recounted the facts limited
at above. He said he had been out of
the building that night. He went to
bed. He awoke. at exactly what time
he was unable to say, but he was seized
with an idea that something unusual
was going on inside the Jail. He got up
and went and peeped through the holes
in the iron door. There he saw the
woman, Mary Zens, escaping from
where KIamer's cot was. and he saw
her go up stairs as fast as she could.
'.Why was she down stairs?''
This woman and the notorious Harriet
Burner had been locked in the guards
corridor up stairs. There was no other
indication of the privacy of their sleep-
ing apartment than blanket which the
sheriff had caused to be hung between
their adjoining cots and the prisoners
cells as makeShift to screen them from
the curious gaze of the male prisoners.
The night watchman. Shields, was the
man who carried the keys. He was the
only man who could unlock the up stairs
corridor and allow the woman to 90
down stairs.
When the investigation was pushed
closely, last Tuesday, the developments
were crushing. In connection with the
statement from Superintendent Bowers
of the Rochester asylum, it was discoy-
cred that both Shields and Picha had
visited the woman in the corridor up
stairs, and that, according to her own
statement, she had come down stairs to
accommodate Kramer. She became
afraid when she heard somebody out
side at the door, and she got up and fled
up stairs to her cot.
Mr.. Peterson admitted, when asked
why he didn't report the matter to the
sheriff. that the men had begged him so
hard and he therefore
KEPT IT SECRET
and supposed the matter would be
hushed up altogether.
Sheriff Richter didn't know ANYTHING
about 1t until he was informed of the
strange declaration from the Rochester
asylum through the state board. He al
lowed DR.. Dana and Secretary Hart to
make their informal Investigation. But.
on wednesday morning, he discharged
Waterman Shields and Turnkey
Kramer, so he says, ''fOr reasons best
known to himself.''
On the night of "Wednesday. Deputy
Sheriff John Lunkenheimer. .JaiIer
Peterson and policeman, Joe Davis,
who had formerly been watchman at the
jail, were waiting around the corner of
Fifth and Wabasha streets, and another
man was with them. They were look
ing wise and acted as If they were on the
alert for somebody But they were
bent upon not giving anything away.
Occasionally Deputy Lunkenheimer
took Jailer Peterson to one side and
whispered something to him. 1t looked
very suspicious. They were not acting
that way last night. Deputy Lunken-
heinler went home early, and Mr.. Peter
son didn't have anything to do but wait
around at the jail entrance, and in the
sheriff's office. Evidently they had got
what they wanted.
On the afternoon of Wednesday Sec
retary Hart,of the state board of correc-
ti0ns anu charities, was keeping Sheriff
Richter company in the corridor of the
court building, between Judge Brill's
Office and Judge Kelly's court. 1t was
tAnEa